By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
A Kannapolis man who hospital personnel said was declared dead after being injured in a drunken-driving accident early Saturday morning is alive.
In an e-mail to the Post, Donna Galyan said her brother, Michael Todd Grimes, did not die after the single-vehicle wreck on Saw Road in China Grove. Rather, he “suffered minor injuries and a slight concussion.”
N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper J.N. Horton confirmed that Grimes is alive.
A Carolinas Medical Center-Northeast staff member told the Post on Saturday that Grimes had been declared dead.
A spokeman with the hospital is looking into the specifics of the incident, but said the error could have been due to a misspelling of the name or confusion with another name.
Grimes, 41, of 4600 Knob Hill Road was traveling southbound on Saw Road about 2:40 a.m. Saturday when he ran off the road to the right and overcorrected the steering, Horton said.
Grimes was pinned in the vehicle before being taken to Carolinas Medical Center-Northeast.
Horton said Grimes was charged with driving while impaired and failing to maintain lane control.
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.